What makes me feel this way?
by Em Pataki
Summary: Arnold and Helga take a sexual education class in fifth grade. When Arnold finds one of Helga's poetry books, it makes him question his feelings for her.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Sexual Education

It was the beginning of their fifth grade year. Helga was more than relieved Arnold had given her a pass on their 'heated moment' a top of the FTi building when she confessed her love to him. Somewhere in Arnold's heart, he knew after that deep heartfelt confession, it had to be more than the heat of the moment. For the sake of her being as unready to admit it as he was unready to hear it, they decided to forget it had ever happened.

One Friday morning Arnold was standing in the hallway grabbing his books from his locker as he listened to his best friend say "So buddy, you ready for this new class they're making us take?"

"I guess. I'm not sure why Mr. Simmons won't be teaching us." Arnold wondered as he closed his locker.

"Arnold, think about it. Why would someone as 'special' as that guy, not want to teach something like sexual education?" Gerald pointed out.

Before Arnold could respond, they heard…

"One side moron, I'm walkin' here!"

The boys turned to see Helga had angrily shoved a clumsy classmate of theirs out of the center of the hallway and into a trashcan as they listened to him say "OW...I'm okay!"

After watching the usual performance, Gerald shook his head and said "Mm, mm, mmm! I don't know why someone like her would waste her time with this class."

"Why do you say that?" Arnold asked, not understanding what Helga's aggressive behavior had to do with the topic.

"Arnold, this class is about sexual education AKA emotional relations. What makes you think anything about that girl is emotional?" Gerald asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Whatever you say Gerald." Arnold sighed, as he headed to class with his best friend.

Meanwhile, Helga had been having her own conversation about the class with her best friend after taking her seat.

"Are you looking forward to this new topic we will be discussing with our new teacher Helga?" Phoebe asked eagerly as Helga gave an unamused look.

"Pttss...what could this guy possibly teach us that we couldn't learn by watching adult rated films?" she scoffed.

"Well Helga, sexual education is about more than physical interactions. It's also based on the emotional development and relations young people such as ourselves experience and learn to cope with."

Helga took no interest in the explanation having already been familiar with what it was like to experience deep emotional feelings for another person. If only she could find the strength to reveal them.

Just then she saw the cause of her capability for understanding emotional development take a seat in front of her.

Her eyes fell half lidded as she gazed at the boy with the corn flowered hair getting his books out to prepare for class.

 _Oh Arnold! Here it is a new day! I sit here forced to listen to the explanation of the cause of my emotional desires, when it's been right here in front of me!_

"Okay class! Here we have a substitute teacher for this very special topic you will all be learning about; sexual education!" Mr. Simmons explained.

"Hello Class! My name is Mr. Martin and I'm honored to be teaching you. Today we'll be discussing both the physical and emotional development young people go through at this day and age. I have sheets to pass out to you all."

"What in the heck is puberty?" Stinky asked, scratching his head while the class reviewed their sheets.

"Although it pertains to several things your body goes through which we will be discussing, it basically pertains to the changes your body goes through as you grow throughout the years." Mr. Martin explained.

"Like what kind of food we get to eat? Do we get to eat those bananas?!" Harold asked eagerly pointing towards the desk.

 _Oh brother, what an idiot!_ Helga thought to herself as she rested her head in her hands. She spent all of the new class period fantasizing about expressing her feelings to Arnold rather than listening to the reason behind them. She already knew what it was about him that made her feel the way she did…

The way his helpful nature always caused him to do the right thing. His ability to look on the bright side in every dark situation. His never ending ability to put another person's problems ahead of his own.

If only she could find the strength to tell him how much she admired these traits of his. She didn't need to sit in class being lectured about feelings she had possessed her whole life that the cause of was more than clear to her.

When the bell at last rang, Mr. Simmons stood up from his desk and said "Class, let's all thank Mr. Martin for his very special lecture on sexual education."

A few students wore puzzled looks on their faces about what had just been discussed while most of them were just happy to see him go.

"Wasn't that interesting Helga?" Phoebe turned to ask her best friend.

"Yeah, the time really flies when you're listening to someone pass out already known information about yourself." she smirked.

Lunch soon came and the kids all left the classroom to head for the cafeteria. Arnold stood in the lunch line with Gerald, listening to him give his opinion about the class. "Man Arnold! Can you believe that list of topics he showed us?"

"I guess we had to find out about it at some point." Arnold said, grabbing some food.

"Something tells me an adult rated film could have gotten the job done." Gerald said wittingly.

As they were approaching the end of the line, an all too familiar incident occurred.

"Hey, no cuts!" Arnold complained, while watching the class bully jump in front of him.

"Save it sucker! I've got my eye on that last tapioca pudding!" Helga snapped as she snactched the well desired dessert.

After watching Helga leave the line with the tapioca, Gerald shook his head and said "Mm, mm, mmm! Still think there's someone out there for everyone?"

Arnold sighed as he then left the line with his best friend. While he headed for a table, Helga and Phoebe were sitting together going over the list that had been given to them that morning.

"Oh crimity! Can you believe this guy? Have a clear understanding of pregnancy and HIV. How dumb does he think we are?" Helga scowled, tossing the list across the table.

 _ **PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT**_

 _Complete puberty and the physical transition from childhood to adulthood_

 _Reach nearly their adult height, especially females (males continue to grow taller into their early twenties.)_

 _ **COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT**_

 _Attain cognitive maturity—the ability to make decisions based on knowledge of options and their consequences_

 _Continue to be influenced by peers (The power of peer pressure lessens after early adolescence.)_

 _Build skills to become self-sufficient_

 _Respond to media messages but develop increasing ability to analyze those messages_

 _Develop increasingly mature relationships with friends and family_

 _Seek increased power over their own lives_

 _Learn to drive, increasing their independence_

 _ **EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT**_

 _Have the capacity to develop long-lasting, mutual, and healthy relationships, if they have the foundations for this development—trust, positive past experiences, and an understanding of love_

 _Understand their own feelings and have the ability to analyze why they feel a certain way_

 _Begin to place less value on appearance and more on personality_

 _ **SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT**_

 _Understand that they are sexual and understand the options and consequences of sexual expression_

 _Choose to express their sexuality in ways that may or may not include shared sexual behaviors_

 _Recognize the components of healthy and unhealthy relationships_

 _Have a clear understanding of pregnancy and of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections_

 _Recognize the impact various media have on cultural views about sex_

 _Have the capacity to learn about intimate, loving, long-term relationships_

 _Have an understanding of their own sexual orientation (This is different than sexual behavior)_

"Well Helga, young adults such as ourselves today are trying adult activities that can result in severe situations and lead to dire consequences." Phoebe explained, as Helga leaned back in her seat crossing her arms.

When lunch at last ended they headed to the classroom for the remainder of the day. While students headed for the room, Helga watched Arnold pass by her with an upsetting facial expression.

Before going to class, she hid near the end of the hallway against a row of abandoned lockers. Staring at her beloved's picture, full of guilt for her previous actions, she said to herself…

 _Oh Arnold! What is wrong with me? Each day I have a new chance to prove my love for you, and what do I do? Use it to find a new way to lash out at you and push you away! When will I find the strength to…_

Helga's passionate moment was then interrupted by the last person she would ever find herself to have intimate feelings for.

"Wheeze, wheeze, wheeze…"

After hearing this, she swung her fist back and Brainy fell to the ground, sending Helga stomping in the direction of the classroom.

There she saw Arnold already sitting in his desk. Helga quietly walked by, thinking to herself _I wonder how upset he is with me?_

As she sat there gazing at him leaning over with his head in his hand, she heard the teacher say…

"Class, I'm sure you all enjoyed Mr. Martin's special lecture this morning."

"I don't think I'll ever eat a banana again." Sid replied.

"Oh please! If anything was bad about that lecture, it was the little time he spent discussing the developmental stage girls go through when they discover how truely amazing their sense of style is!" Rhonda explained, while the rest of the class rolled their eyes.

"I reckon it wasn't too confusing. At least now I know why I love lemon puddin' so much." Stinky said, scratching his head, while the rest of the class shook their heads.

When the bell for the last class ended, Helga watched Arnold leave the class with Gerald as she listened to her best friend ask "Do you have plans for this evening Helga?"

"Huh? Oh, not unless you consider getting a front row seat of Miriam past out at the kitchen counter to be one." Helga scoffed as she turned to Phoebe.

"Perhaps you would like to come over and work on our homework for a bit?" she offered, knowing Helga was never excited about returning to her neglecting family.

"Eh, why not? Just let me stop by my locker." she replied.

"Certainly." Phoebe chirped.

While the girls headed in that direction, Arnold and Gerald were heading for theirs.

"Thank goodness that day is over!" Gerald said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, but at least we don't have to worry about it anymore." Arnold pointed out.

"You mean except for the fact that now we'll be scarred for life with this sheet of information." Gerald said wittingly as Arnold rolled his eyes.

"Wanna come over for awhile?"

"No thanks. My mom's making me help with the laundry."

"Okay, see ya later." Arnold said, giving his best friend their secret handshake.

Meanwhile, Helga was grabbing the last of her books from her locker. "Perhaps we could stop by Slausens for a bit after finishing out homework." Phoebe suggested.

"I guess so." Helga sighed, still thinking about what she had done to Arnold. After grabbing the last of her books, she didn't realize she hadn't zipped her bag all the way.

As she and her best friend were rounding the corner of the hallway, Helga bumped into a familiar face. "Arnold! I mean, watching where you're going football head!" Helga scowled.

Arnold sighed at her once again negative behavior. Being the nice person that he was however, he helped her up and apologized for what had just happened. "Sorry Helga."

"Come on Pheebs!" Helga sneered, marching past her beloved.

Arnold stood, shaking his head at Helga until he finally looked down at the floor to see a little pink book.

 _It looks just like the book of poems I find last year?_

He thought to himself.

Arnold opened it to once again find pages filled with poem after poem written about him. No one else was in sight and Gerald was no longer with him. Who could he ask about this? Even more importantly, who had written it?

Arnold took the book home with him, anxious to go upstairs and read it. When he arrived, he saw his grandpa sitting in the kitchen.

"Hey grandpa."

"Hey there shortman! How goes it?" Phil asked, setting his paper aside.

"Well, we had to learn about sexual education today." Arnold blushed, knowing his grandpa was likely to tease him about that.

"Sex ed, huh? Back when I was a kid, we never had anyone who was willing to explain that stuff to us. We just married who we liked and when the moment came, prayed the other knew what the heck they were doing. Hehe." Phil winked while Arnold rolled his eyes.

"Uhh thanks grandpa."

"Anytime shortman!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: It Can't Be True

"Have you already finished the assignment Helga?" Phoebe couldn't help but ask, as she saw her best friend staring off into space.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Pheebs. I just can't focus on that now." Helga sighed, leaning back against the bed.

"You seem rather perturbed. Is there something on your mind?" Phoebe couldn't help but ask.

"It's nothing." Helga sighed as she reached into her bag for her homework assignment. When she pulled it out, she couldn't help noticing something was missing.

"Crimity! Where is it?!"

"Where's what Helga?

"Phoebe! Did you see a pink book somewhere?" Helga asked desperately.

"I'm certain I haven't seen one." Phoebe replied, wondering what could be the problem. "What was it for?"

"It's uhh...uhhh…" Helga began to rub her neck, not wanting to reveal the information.

"Oh my! Did you leave it somewhere?" Phoebe asked, realizing what it must be for.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be searching all over the floor for it! Sheesh!" Helga scowled.

Phoebe knew not to take offense towards Helga's hostility when it came to matters such as these. She was one of the few people who knew about Helga's personal feelings for Arnold.

"I suppose the best thing to do would be to retrace our steps." Phoebe suggested, while being instantly dragged out of the house by her best friend.

Meanwhile, Arnold was laying on his bed reading the new book of poems he had found. He was tempted to call Gerald, just to have someone to talk to about it.

 _Maybe the same girl who wrote the last book wrote this one. I never did figure out who it was?_

After making it half way through the book, he decided to go downstairs and find his grandpa. There he saw Phil sitting in the living room, still reading the paper.

"Grandpa?"

"Hey there shortman."

"Grandpa, I found this book of poems about me at school, but I don't know who wrote it."

"Oohh! Poems, let me see!" Phil exclaimed, snatching the book.

Arnold sat there, watching Phil laugh at the sweet words written about his grandson.

"She seems like quite a keeper there shortman!" Phil winked, bumping Arnold on the shoulder.

"I don't know who wrote them though? How am I supposed to figure that out?"

"Hmm...you tried asking all the girls in your class? Better yet, bring the book with you to class!"

"Uhhh I don't know. I found another book like it last year and did that. No one said anything though." he replied, thinking back to the day.

"Another book? You can really reel 'em in can't ya shortman! Hehe!"

"I'm wondering if the same girl wrote this one. I wish she'd just say something." he sighed.

"You think it might be your little cranky friend with the pink boy and the one eyebrow?"

"Helga? Are you kidding?!"

"Come on Arnold! I told you all those stories about what your grandma did to me. Has any other girl ever paid you that much attention before?" Phil pointed out, while Arnold sat and thought to himself a moment. Practically all the attention Helga gave Arnold was negative, but it was more attention than any girl had ever given him before.

"Thanks grandpa." Arnold sighed, as he headed outside to sit outside.

"Anytime shortman!"

Meanwhile, Helga and Phoebe were standing outside the doors of P.S. 118.

"Crimity! It can't be locked! How am I supposed to get the stupid thing back now?" Helga panicked.

"Don't worry Helga. It may not be in there." Phoebe said, hoping to calm her friend down.

"That doesn't mean it's not lying on the ground somewhere, where any lunatic could pick it up and read it if they wanted. Sheesh!" Helga scowled with her hands on her waists.

"Well, did you sign your name at the end of this one?"

"No, I…." Helga began to sigh until going through all the information that book contained in her mind.

There was one poem that mentioned her full name.

"OH MY...AHHHH!" Helga fell on the ground with her head in her hands as Phoebe patted her on the back.

After a moment of sulking, Helga managed to get up. Phoebe examined the depressed look on her friend's face and asked "Would you care to go to Slausens for a milkshake? Perhaps do something to take your mind off this stressful event."

"I guess." Helga sighed, slowly dragging her feet in that direction.

While they were headed in that direction, Arnold was sitting on his front porch reading the book of poems when he heard…

"Hey Arnold! What's up man?"

"Hey Gerald. You finish the laundry?"

"Yeah. What's that you're reading?" Gerald asked, while pointing to the book in Arnold's hands.

"Well, after you left I found another book of poems someone wrote about me at school." Arnold said hesitantly, wondering what his friend's reaction would be.

"Another one?! Man, what kind of ladies man are you?"

Setting the book aside, Arnold sighed "I wish she'd just say something. We could end up liking each other."

"Let me see that." Gerald took the book as he flipped to the last page. Raising an eyebrow, he asked "You sure about that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Gerald handed over the book, crossing his arms as he watched his best friend read…

 _Arnold my love_

 _My sultry preteen_

 _Why must I hold you only whilst I dream?_

 _Will I be forever enslaved by your spell?_

 _Why must I worship you and never ever tell?_

 _Arnold you make my girlhood tremble_

 _My senses all go wacky._

 _Someday, I'll tell the world my love,_

 _Or my name's not Helga G. Pataki!_

Arnold's eyes widened as far as they could, while Gerald laughed hysterically. "Oh man Arnold! All this time, Pataki? Mm, mm, mmm!"

"There's no way! There's got to be some sort of mistake!" Arnold insisted, planting his face in his hands.

"I don't think someone would make the mistake of replacing their name with another person's… especially not that girl's!" Gerald insisted, placing his hands on his hips.

"But, she hates me!" Arnold exclaimed, waving the book in the air.

"Apparently not."

"I need to go inside and think about this." Arnold sighed, as he headed towards his room.

"See ya buddy!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: How Do You Really Feel?

"Would you like to spend the night at my place Helga? We could go over to the school tomorrow morning and see if there would be anyone willing to let us in?" Phoebe offered, while watching her best friend stir her untouched shake.

"I guess so. I just can't believe I signed my stupid name again!" Helga sighed, leaning her head in her hand.

"Helga, your life long dream is to be with Arnold is it not?"

"Well doi!" Helga scoffed, not knowing what the point of that question was.

"Then I'm sorry to have to point out you'll have to reveal your feelings to him eventually. Continuing on with your aggressive behavior without giving him any indication of your emotional feelings whatsoever will never lead you to where you're hoping." Phoebe assured her.

"I can't just go spilling my guts to him Pheebs! He'd never believe I felt that way about him after the way I've treated him all these years!" Helga exclaimed as she lifted her head from her hand in frustration.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I've already done it once!" Helga blurted out, as Phoebe gave a confused look.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're referring to?"

"Crimity! I'm the one who gave football head and tall hair boy the information they needed to save the neighborhood a few months ago. The only problem was, Arnold found out my 'secret identity' and discovered it was me giving him the information they needed the entire time." Helga began to explain.

"But what does that have to do with revealing your intimate feelings for him?"

Helga planted her face in her hands, not wanting to continue on with the story. "Because he wouldn't take any further advice from me until I told him why I was helping him. He made me admit I have feelings for him. I started blabbing every secret I could possibly think of and planted a kiss on him the size of Pink boy's stomach!" Helga scowled.

"So, he already knows your secret?" Phoebe asked, trying to connect the pieces.

"In the end, we both agreed it was just me getting caught up in the heat of the moment. I don't think he wanted to hear it anymore than I wanted to say it." Helga sighed, leaning against her hand once more.

"From what it sounds like, you may have revealed your feelings in quite an extraordinary way. Perhaps it was just too much for him to take in all at once. If you were to calmly explain your feelings and the reason behind your behavior, I'm sure things would go much more smoothly."

"Maybe I won't have to. Maybe he won't even see it." Helga said hopefully, ignoring her best friend's advice.

Meanwhile, Arnold was laying on his bed, watching the clouds go by through his glass plated ceiling. _I can't believe it! Helga? There's no way she really feels that way about me?_

As he laid there pondering this, he thought back to the night Helga had confessed her feelings to him. Setting aside the denial he felt that night, he tried picturing everything that was said…

 _Who else do you think has been stalking you night and day, building shrines to you in a closet, filling volumes of books with poems about you?_

 _I love you Arnold I've always love you, ever since I first laid eyes on your stupid football head. And from that moment every moment since, I've lived and dreamed for you, dreamed of the moment I could finally tell you my sacred feelings. To grab you and kiss you!_

Shaking his head, he looked over at the book and thought to himself…

 _Maybe she was telling the truth. I did put her on the spot that night. She may not have just been ready to say anything about it._

As he turned over on his side, he saw his backpack laying beside his bed. He reached into it to search for the sheet of information that had been given to the class by Mr. Martin.

Propping himself up against the head of his bed, he looked over the emotional developmental section of the sheet.

 _ **EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT**_

 _Have the capacity to develop long-lasting, mutual, and healthy relationships, if they have the foundations for this development—trust, positive past experiences, and an understanding of love_

 _Understand their own feelings and have the ability to analyze why they feel a certain way_

 _Begin to place less value on appearance and more on personality_

While reviewing this information, Arnold sat there thinking to himself…

 _What type of healthy relationships have I developed with Helga over the years as far as love goes? She always has been loyal and helpful..._

 _1) She found my hat_

 _2) She got us the money for the float_

 _3) She helped us save Mighty Pete_

 _4) She helped me feel better when Lila dumped me_

 _5) She warned me about Summer_

 _6) She helped us save the neighborhood_

 _Just because she's always been there for me doesn't mean she loves me?_

After taking a moment to consider this, Arnold looked at the following section of the sheet and wondered if Helga had ever done anything to IMPLY how she felt about him.

 _ **SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT**_

 _Understand that they are sexual and understand the options and consequences of sexual expression_

 _Choose to express their sexuality in ways that may or may not include shared sexual behaviors_

 _Recognize the components of healthy and unhealthy relationships_

 _Have a clear understanding of pregnancy and of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections_

 _Recognize the impact various media have on cultural views about sex_

 _Have the capacity to learn about intimate, loving, long-term relationships_

 _Have an understanding of their own sexual orientation (This is different than sexual behavior)_

 _She has acted nice around me before…_

 _1) She was really sweet when she dressed up like Lila at Rhonda's party._

 _2) She told me I'm sweet when we helped her dad and grandpa with their golf game._

 _3) She said I was okay when everyone thought she was sick._

 _4) She kept saying 'I do' and fell into my arms at Coach Wittenburg's wedding._

 _Was that really her way of flirting with me? Or trying to uhhh sexually express herself to me?_

After reviewing the list, Arnold picked up the book again. Reading that last page, the part…

 _You make my girlhood tremble…_ was beginning to stand out.

Setting it aside, he gulped and thought to himself _Have I ever done anything to imply I feel that way about her, or sexually express myself?_

 _1) I screamed her name in concern when she fell out of the window during the flood._

 _2) I hugged her when she found my hat, got the money for the float, and after having that crazy dream about Arnie._

 _3) I told her I thought she was okay when she told me she was sick._

 _4) I told Patty Helga didn't really mean to hurt her. I don't know how Helga would know about that? Maybe I implied it by insisting she confront her and apologize._

 _5) I walked her home on Thanksgiving._

 _6) I told her I liked the impressions she did of our classmates at her show._

 _7) I said she was great when she acted nice her last time performing as the IT girl._

 _8) I was concerned when she was hit on the head with the golf ball._

 _9) I said she was sophisticated when we ate dinner. Then I squirted her with the water and winked at her._

 _10) I guess I also kind of flirted with her during the tango at the April Fool's dance._

Sitting forward, Arnold said to himself "I guess I've done more things to imply I have feelings for Helga than she has for me. What am I supposed to do though?"

Meanwhile, Helga was spending the night at Phoebe's, wondering whose hands her secret item could have fallen into.

"Don't worry Helga. Tomorrow we'll wake up early and see if there's anyone on school grounds willing to let us in." Phoebe assured her friend.

"Pttss...yeah, and if there's not, I'm grabbing a rock and letting myself in!" Helga scowled as she laid her head down on the floor in the sleeping bag her friend was nice enough to give her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: I Don't Want To Forget

HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD! The next morning, Arnold awoke with a full mind and an empty stomach. He had spent all night considering whether or not it could be true Helga had feelings for him, that he didn't bother to eat dinner.

He headed downstairs for breakfast to see Phil at the table eating a stack of pancakes.

"Morning shortman! Still thinkin' about that book of yours?"

"Yeah, I was reading it for awhile." he admitted, not wanting his grandpa to know he was right about Helga.

"Eat up tex!" Pookey insisted, placing a plate of pancakes in front of Arnold.

"Thanks grandma."

"So, whatcha got planned for today shortman?" Phil asked, pushing his plate aside.

"I don't know. I might walk over to Gerald's for while." Arnold said, finishing up his pancakes.

"Well, keep an eye out for more books. Hehe."

"Uhh right grandpa." Arnold said, leaving the table.

As Arnold went upstairs to grab the book of poems, he thought to himself _What if she really does love me? What if everything she said to me that night was true?_

After grabbing it, he left the boarding house and heading for Gerald's house.

Meanwhile, Helga and Phoebe were standing outside the doors of P.S. 118. "Crimity! There's got to be a janitor or some drunk teacher still inside there!"

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do Helga." Phoebe sighed, while seeing the frustrated look in her friend's eyes.

"The heck there's not! Gimme a rock! I'm breaking in now!" Helga scowled as she began searching the ground.

"Helga I must protest! There could be severe consequences if you were to go through with such an act." Phoebe insisted.

"Not as severe as the ones I'll be facing if that book falls into the wrong hands!" Helga demanded.

As she bent down to reach for the biggest rock she could find, a hand grabbed her wrist.

"Pheebs let me….Arnold!" Helga screeched, dropping the rock.

"Hey Helga."

"I mean, what are you doing here football head? It's Saturday! Shouldn't you be off somewhere with tall hair boy?" she smirked.

"Well, I was on my way over there. Then I overheard what you were saying. What did you need to break in for?"

Helga's eyes widened with fear. Not only after hearing his question, but when realizing what he was holding.

"I...I…" she began to stutter before Phoebe interrupted.

"Arnold, may I please speak with you?"

"Sure." Arnold said, giving Helga a concerned look.

"We'll just be a moment Helga." Phoebe added, while all Helga was capable of doing was nodding.

Phoebe walked Arnold to the end of the sidewalk as she too noticed the book in his hand. "I'm assuming you know who that belongs to Arnold."

"Yeah, I kind of figured it out last night." he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, let me assure you everything in there is one hundred percent true and Helga's feelings are quite delicate. Therefore if that book were to fall into the wrong hands, she would be emotionally devastated. The worst person she could imagine finding it would be you Arnold." Phoebe explained.

"Yeah, I was pretty shocked when I read everything." Arnold sighed.

"Which is precisely why she'd appreciate it if you'd be willing to give the book back and forget any of this ever happened." Phoebe explained.

After considering this a moment _Forget any of this ever happened_ Arnold thought back to what happened after their moment on FTi. The two of them agreed to forget about it. After considering everything last night that had ever happened between the two of them, he wasn't sure if he wanted to forget about it. He had expressed just as many feelings to her in some way that she had to him.

"Actually Phoebe, I'd like to go talk to her alone. If that's okay. Gerald's expecting me, so if you'd like to take me place, I'm sure that would make him happy." Arnold suggested, while Phoebe happily nodded.

"Why certainly Arnold."

As Helga continued to stand by the front door of the school, she noticed Phoebe walking away and Arnold headed in her direction. _Crimity! Where the heck is Pheebs going?!_

"Hey Helga." Arnold said softly, holding her book.

"Hey." she managed to reply.

"I found this at school yesterday. It must have fallen out of your backpack when we bumped into each other."

Snatching the book, Helga scoffed "You mean when YOU bumped into me!"

"Uhh right. Anyway, I read everything you wrote." he admitted as her eyes widened and her knees began to shake.

"You...you...did." she whispered.

"Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't believe you a few months ago when you told me you loved me. It was just kind of a big thing to hear." he replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

Helga stood there in silence, not sure of what to say. There was no hiding it now.

"Yeah, well if you could just keep this to yourself, we can once again act like nothing ever happened." she sighed.

"Actually, I spent the night looking at that list of information our sexual education teacher gave us." he began, while Helga cocked her brow.

"What's that got to do with this book?"

"Well, like I said, I was pretty shocked when I read that last poem had your name in it. Then I thought about everything the teacher discussed with us in class yesterday. The way kids our age go through both physical and emotional changes." he began to explain as Helga listened attentively.

"I realized you and I have done a lot for each other and implied how much we care for each other over the years. We've helped and encouraged each other whenever the other one is in trouble. I don't know if my feelings are as extreme as yours. To be honest, I'm still learning what all to expect from those things he told us about. After thinking about it last night though, I realized I do have feelings for you. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings when I said we should just call it the heat of the moment." Arnold said, kissing her on the cheek.

After hearing this Helga's eyes were still as wide as her knees were weak. "So, are you saying you like me - like me?"

"I think so." he blushed as her heart began to pound.

Taking her trembling hand in his, he asked "Would you like to go on a date with me? We could go get some ice cream?"

Helga did all she could not to swoon as her eyes fell half lidded and she replied "Sure. I mean, whatever floats your boat football head."

Smiling at her nervousness, Arnold pulled her in for a kiss. While Helga could feel a tingling sensation in her body, Arnold's head was spinning with thoughts about how just twenty four hours ago, he never would have pictured this being the girl to make any type of intimate feelings form inside him.

As the two pulled away from each other, he took her hand in his, leading her to Slausens.

"So, the whole time, that poem was yours?" he said, thinking back to fourth grade, when the parrot had recited it to the class.

"Yeah, it was mine." she sighed.

"What exactly is it about me that makes your girlhood tremble?" Arnold couldn't help but tease her as she blushed terribly.

"Oh shut up football head!"

"Well, how am I supposed to figure out if I uhh...fell the same way about you or not if I don't know what kinds of things to think about?" Arnold blushed, rubbing his neck.

"Uhh...I guess it's the way you're always looking on the bright side. You know helping other people in their time of need. That sweet sensitive attitude you possess isn't as lame as I make it out to be. Hehe." Helga replied nervously as he rubbed her hand.

"Thanks Helga." he said softly, kissing her on the cheek. "Now I know what to think about?" he winked.

 _ **THE END**_

 _ **THANKS FOR READING**_

 _ **PLEASE REVIEW!**_


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